The International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) will run its first Illegal Gambling Awareness Week from November 9 to 13, 2026. The association presented the plan at its annual conference in Lima, Peru, but neither Yogonet nor GamblingNews gave the date of the presentation.
The campaign's central message is that consumers should check whether a gambling site is licensed in the place where they play before they place a bet.
IAGR cites four risks of playing on unlicensed sites. Winnings may go unpaid, and players have limited options for dispute resolution. Personal or financial information can be misused, and responsible gambling protections may be absent.
The association also warns that unlicensed gambling can fund criminal organizations involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking and terrorism.
R&R Partners developed the campaign materials. IAGR members will receive them on November 6, three days before the week begins, and will distribute them on their own channels. The package includes videos, social media content, a press release and talking points. According to Yogonet alone, it contains a 30-second and a 15-second video, and the initial assets are available in English and Spanish.
Yogonet also reports, without confirmation from a second outlet, that members may add their own branding, post content daily from November 9 to 13, and that consumer protection bodies and responsible gambling organizations are encouraged to take part.
The campaign will feature a licensing-check tool, CheckBeforeYouPlay.org, developed by Sharp Vision, which lets consumers see whether a gambling site holds a licence in their market. Only Yogonet reports that the tool goes live on November 9, that it covers IAGR member jurisdictions, and that Sharp Vision is a regulatory technology company based in Paris.
IAGR President Ben Haden called unlicensed online gambling a "shared challenge for regulators" and said that coordinated consumer communications can help more people understand why local licensing matters.
IAGR CEO Kevin Mullally said consumers often mistake visibility for trust, and that the association wants them to make a habit of checking a site's licensing status before they open an account or make a deposit.
Several points are still unclear. We could not find how many regulators will distribute the materials, and a list of participating IAGR members would settle that. Only one outlet describes which jurisdictions the checking tool will cover, so its reach for any given player cannot yet be judged, and a published list of covered jurisdictions at launch would answer that question. GamblingNews alone reports that IAGR has invited companies that want to join the initiative to contact it directly.
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